#cw: bi-erasure

[hoolay-boobs]

This person literally does not know that bi girls don’t need to date men.

We’re attracted to men and women, we’re attracted to all genders, and you know what? If I like cookies and cupcakes, but I only wanted to eat cupcakes, and never ate cookies, and never had the desire to- despite having the capacity to- it wouldn’t change anything. I would still be a person who likes cookies and cupcakes, it’s just that I only eat cupcakes. That’s Poison Ivy. And that’s 100% okay.

Btw, the “bi erasure pass” does not exist <3

[punkeropercyjackson]

For context,they're talking to my 16 year old brother on his anti Zutara post.Yes,the ship from the Nickelodeon cartoon.No,their blog isn't literally anything but Z/K and Kataang hate.Yes,they're one of those people i talked about who only accept Jetara as a side dish to Zutara

@lphoenixspiritl Since tumblr refuses to let me talk back to your overgrown ass🙄

[thcdoomed]

Rules update: I will not tolerate bi/pan erasure from canonically bi/pan characters. If I see you doing it, I'm hard blocking on sight. I have to deal with erasure enough irl, I don't need to see it when I'm trying to do a hobby I love.

[ofspvrta]

Rules update: I will not tolerate bi/pan erasure from canonically bi/pan characters. If I see you doing it, I'm hard blocking on sight. I have to deal with erasure enough irl, I don't need to see it when I'm trying to do a hobby I love.

[drfrankensteinvsthequeerborgs]

Crowley and Dean’s cowboy photo (knowing as we do about Dean’s cowboy fetish) is just one of many elements that taken together are as close as the series can get to explicitly saying Drowley fucked without spelling it out for us with the sentence “and then Dean and Crowley had gay sex homosexually because they’re officially queers” or like an honest-to-gods sex scene, I don’t understand why this is considered an ‘‘‘‘~alternative~’‘‘‘‘ reading

[stories-of-the-multiverse]

((And so!! Imma dewit now!!!

So, this is gonna be a long one, and it’s gonna be divided up into three sections.

Grace, Pico, which are both related to each other for surprising reasons, and the tentative third one is bi erasure.

Grace

So, I’ve expressed before my problems with how Grace is written. A Nice Girl that feels entitled to a man’s feelings when he doesn’t feel the same way. And word of god not only contradicting the narrative, but itself.

Now, why did they need to go the direction of the bitter ex? Who fucking knows! She’s supposed to be a role swap with Pico, but here’s the thing! Basegame Pico was fucking cordial when meeting with his ex! Even despite, you know, being hired to kill him.

There was no fucking reason to make Grace such a fucking brat. Especially considering the circumstances!

Think about it, Ben ran away from home with Pico without so much as a word. Frank already saw them together, so even if no one suspected Pico before, they certainly would now.

Not to mention, she fully believes he’s behind the shooting.

Even if none of the parents painted the picture for her, she probably would have reached the conclusion that Pico kidnapped Ben.

So why couldn’t the focus be Grace making a misguided attempt to rescue Ben? It would be a sort of mirror to Pico’s own attempt to protect Ben, and that would be a perfect source of conflict. And wouldn’t involve making Grace so fucking unlikable. And you can still hint she has unrequited feelings for Ben.

Now, a while back someone pointed out she’s supposed to be a product of the abusive household she grew up.

But that actually was not the intention. After all, according to Tama, she wasn’t abused, she was “overly sheltered”.

A statement which I have several problems with.

First of all, Ben outright admits to seeing parallels between his parents and her parents. Quote;

“You [the Fairests] tried to make me a mindless slave! Just like GF’s parents did to her!”

Now, for context, the Fairests abused the hell out of him. So the fact he saw similarities between both sets of parents, it’s very telling.

Also, “overly sheltering”? Is a form of abuse. Sorry not sorry. Just because she didn’t suffer violence doesn’t mean she didn’t suffer abuse.

It’s also heavily implied her parents manipulate her, not only by Ben, and unknowingly herself, but also Tama themself. I will get to the latter in a sec. For now, a quote!

“NO! MOMMY AND DADDY TOLD ME SO! THEY WOULD NEVER LIE TO ME!”

Girl is... straight up brainwashed.

And we may know a bit about the extent of her brainwashing. After all, she has body image issues. And Ben with his gift art is the only one that makes her feel better about her appearance.

Now, a heavily sheltered girl, meaning her parents would be picky about the content she consumes... And her only friend is fully supportive of her... Where do you think... she might have developed such an insecurity...?

And keep in mind, this kinda shit can lead to eating disorders. Fucking dangerous.

Even if this is just body dysphoria, Ben is still the only one trying to help her with her insecurity. Why aren’t the parents helping?

This still does not look good on them either way.

And now... let’s talk about that thing I mentioned.

So let’s suppose... her parents aren’t abusive.

You know who is, though?

The Fairests.

And according to Tama, both her parents and the Fairests manipulated her into thinking that she and Ben are meant to be together. And I doubt that wasn’t the only instance either.

See, abusive people are hardly ever abusive to just one person. They are a social parasite. The moment they can sink their teeth into you, you become their victim. No matter how many other victims they have.

Now, I doubt they were bold enough to do any physical harm to her. She’s not their kid, so unlike Ben, they don’t have full power over her.

But it’s arguably more insidious. Ben has physical proof. Grace does not. It is her word against theirs. Both sets of parents. I know from damn experience that your word against theirs hardly works. Even if you try to keep note of it.

All this tells me that Tama just has... a really narrow view on what abuse is. That you need to sustain physical injures, possibly scars, for it to be real abuse.

And as someone that has been physically abused when I was in elementary school [Though no scars to show for it as far as I’m aware], and emotionally abused all the way back to at least high school, it genuinely is upsetting to essentially be told, as someone that sorta relates to Grace’s experience, “Hey, by the way? Your abuse isn’t actually abuse. VuV”

This coupled with her being bastardized just for the sake of propping up the mod’s ship is fucking infuriating.

And with the ship in mind, on to part two!

Pico

First of all, fuck you, Pico would not disapprove of Ben’s friendships with the other BFs. What does that say about the knight in shining armor that rescued his abused boyfriend from the abusive birth givers?

Aside from rescuing and taking care of Ben, though, there really isn’t much to his character. He entirely revolves around Ben. You want to know why I think that?

First of all, where the hell is Darnell and Nene?

You know, Pico’s best friends in canon?

Why aren’t they even mentioned? Why does Pico’s relationships seem to either be Ben or people dating Ben’s friends?

Actually, now thinking about it, why is he even friends with Shaya and Neo!GF in the first place? What do they bond over, how to they hang out? Even Grace is described as a little sister to the two Picos from B3 and Neo mods. How the fuck does Toughie hang out with the GFs?

We don’t ever get any information on his relationships aside from Ben.

And that’s not the only thing we don’t get insight on.

Pico’s own baggage.

We see a glimpse of some of it in chapter three when Grace brings up the shooting. And we know he dropped out of high school because of it. But I don’t think that’s his only issue.

After all, he chose to rough it out on the streets as opposed to staying home. And that is despite not only how dangerous homelessness is, but him being believed to be a school shooter and therefore risking harassment. After all, who even tolerates school shooters? Even if you are cleared of a crime, the moment you’re accused, there is always gonna be someone that believes you committed it. And red hair ain’t exactly common, so he’d be pretty easy to recognize.

Despite all that, he decided to live out on the streets anyways.

Doesn’t that imply his home life was far from safe? What could possibly have been at home for him to risk it out on the streets?

Fuck if I know, the mod refuses to even imply it. Which is weird, because you’d think that’d be a point of empathizing and bonding with each other. You know, unless Tama doesn’t see whatever forced Pico out on the streets as abuse either.

Yeah in case you couldn’t tell, I’m still really fucking salty about the abuse shit.

And now... the tentative last part.

Bi Erasure

Okay, admittedly, even despite being pan, I feel a little... ill equipped for this, so this one is gonna be short and a little more wishy washy.

So in case you don’t know, BF is canonically bi.

However, in the Soft mod, he is gay. As in, only prefers men.

This is why I’m a little wishy washy, because on one hand, fuck bi erasure, but on the other hand, gay men deserve rep too.

Though, I will say this.

You don’t have to be a gay man to reject a woman. You don’t have to be a straight woman to reject another woman. You don’t have to be a straight man to reject another man. You don’t have to be a gay woman to reject a man.

You can be bi/pan/omni/poly/etc. and reject someone. Hell, you can be straight and reject someone of the opposite sex. Or gay and reject someone of the same sex. Your orientation does not dictate who you can and can’t reject. If you’re not into them, you’re not into them. Simple as.

My point is, Ben could have still been bi and rejected Grace, and that would have been just as valid.

If I am out of line with this, though, please let me know.

Aaaaand that is me bitching out the Soft mod.

I really do love the themes of the mod. I do.

But it falls flat for me when other major characters’ struggles are either glossed over and barely mentioned, or just dismissed as not a real struggle.))

[eyzoa]

headcanons for a humanstuck june egbert, who was cousins with jane crocker and eventually ended up in a relationship with dirk strider?

Sure thing, I wasn't sure if you meant relationship headcanons- so I just did one on how y'all got togeather.

When you and dirk realized you had feelings for each other, it resulted in major identity crisises for the both of you.

You were iding as a lesbian at the time, and were astonished by the idea that you liked men, after spending your entire life so sure you didnt.

Dirk felt horrible about it as well, worried he might've been transphobic and just didn't realize, turns out he's just bi lmao.

Jane was the one that make you two get your shit together, as dirks best friend and your beloved cousin, she took the brunt of both of yours very oblivious, very mutual pining.

Dave helped out a lot too in his own way, coaching Dirk through his self-realization and making fun of you because "I fuckin knew it, I knew you liked dudes, nobody watches con-air that many times and doesn't like dick."

[polaraffect]

not to talk spn on main once more but I'm seeing this bisexual Dean post floating around and every time I see it reblogged I wonder more and more if anyone on this website actually knows what Canon means

[ajibooks]

Some of my OFMD character orientation opinions:

We don't really know anyone's specific orientation. We only know that many characters are not heterosexual.

Oluwande is not heterosexual, based only on canon. There's no reason to write him that way, and I've seen people doing exactly that.

Anything anyone who works on this show has said about anything is not canon unless it's explicitly part of the show. Anyone can lie about their own work, or misunderstand it, or fail to predict audience reactions, or incorporate audience reactions into what they say about their own work.

Overall, it makes sense to me that people disagree about Izzy's canon orientation. Are the nuances of a performance part of canon? This is an interesting question (but not particularly to me about Izzy, because I don't like him, for many reasons).

All that aside, Izzy is openly homophobic. We can use different words for it, but they're all flavors of homophobia.

We have a parallel there with Pete, who hero-worships Ed/Blackbeard, and Pete is canonically mlm. It seems like there's a sexual element to Pete's feelings, to me. Pete also says some negative things about effeminacy, but these are mostly about himself, while Izzy and Calico Jack (also canonically mlm) use anti-effeminacy as a weapon against Ed and Stede.

Can we say anyone is gay? What about Stede? Sometimes soft, frilly, bitchy men are bi, or ace, or anything. Some people who survive homophobic bullying are straight (or anything). He wasn't happy in his arranged marriage to a woman, but that's one woman.

No, Stede isn't straight, but he isn't necessarily anything else. Unless he ever says, "I'm only attracted to men," or "I'm only attracted to Ed," we don't know that he's gay, only that he's mlm. I headcanon him as gay (and also as demisexual).

Lucius is the only character who has been really clear about his own orientation. He said that he only pretended to like girls in order to fool his mother, and we have a lot of examples of his being into men. Lucius also said he was "into Jim," when he still believed Jim was a woman. He likely said that as a favor to Jim, to make Oluwande jealous, but again, that's my headcanon.

[herpderpingest]

Honestly, if you think about it... living in a universe that keeps trying to retcon him into being straight is the most bisexual thing about Dean Winchester.

[thcdoomed]

Every time I see someone in the tags fighting against bi/pan erasure in the fandom, I feel like shedding a happy little tear. Wish we could eradicate erasure from the fandom (and in general) entirely.

[borderlandsresearcher]

I have some things to say...

CW: Rant, bisexual erasure

Mileena x Kenshi shippers are so problematic. No one disagrees that Mileena is bisexual. We all know she is, it's canon. But the issue is that NOBODY in this fandom seems to give a shit about the obvious wlw relationship between Tanya and Mileena in MK1.

People have never had an issue with others shipping Baraka and Rain with Mileena, because Taleena was never fully confirmed. But now that it is, people are finding any excuse to ship Mileena with a man. These people prefer to ship her with people she has zero chemistry with than with a woman. They are pulling ships out of their asses at this point.

Your first reaction to a wlw ship like Taleena should NOT be "this is bisexual erasure" because the writers didn't force a relationship between characters who don't know shit about each other. I can't make a post about Taleena without someone going "ERRRMM she's bisexual FYI 🤓" , as if being with a woman doesn't make her bisexual??? Is she only bisexual if she's with a man because that's what makes you comfortable??? Because that sounds like bi erasure to me...

What's even grosser, is that these are the same people to fetishise Johnny x Kenshi without batting an eye, but SEETHE at the thought of two women being together. It's not at all surprising that a lot of these people are straight women.

Mileena x Kenshi has absolutely taken over this fandom, and it is so fucking heartbreaking to see. Ship whoever you want, I don't care. But clearly something is going on here and it breaks my heart. Acknowledge that Mileena is bisexual, but also celebrate that we FINALLY got a somewhat decent wlw relationship in the media for once. It's already so hard to find this representation, so please do not take it from us!!!!!!

+there's a billion other characters you can be shipping. That's why this ship feels targeted, because it is so specific and strange....

- Yours truly, a fellow queer

[ayspec]

cw vent

aspec erasure within fandoms is disgusting and tiring. and when i say "aspec erasure" that really just means ace and aroace erasure because we have such nonexistent rep that the only aspec characters we have are either ace or aroace since no one knows other aspec identities exist.

ffs STOP USING NON-SEX/ROMANCE-REPULSED LABELS AS AN EXCUSE! "uh, aroace people can still be in sexual and romantic relationships 🤨 clearly you're the aphobic one here lmao" says the one who only knows aroaces can still be in relationships because they got caught for aroace erasure and are trying to find an excuse. these people don't really care about aspecs: all they want is a reason to draw characters kissing and fucking.

"but the creator never said the character is sex/romance-repulsed 🙄 you're so dramatic and just wanna start discourse 😒" a creator doesn't need to explicitly state a character is sex/romance-repulsed for them to be. you seem fine being able to tell that a character is coded as gay or lesbian without the creator explicitly stating it, yet when a character on screen says they aren't interested in sex or romance it's not enough for you. if a character isn't wearing a sign around their neck that says "I DON'T LIKE SEX" or "I DON'T LIKE ROMANCE" then it isn't canon, and even if they did wear a sign, i doubt you'd care then either

i'm so done with this shit. i just wanna feel safe in fandoms for once in my life so i can enjoy the tiny crumbs of rep i'm getting. i just wanna enjoy a canonically aspec character in peace without their tag being filled with aspec erasure. things like bi or lesbian erasure are also a problem, but i feel like fandoms have gotten a lot better at calling it out, whereas with aspec erasure, no one makes a peep. and whenever someone does call out this erasure, they get dogpiled because "why can't you just let people have fun!?! 😡😤"

[oh-my-im-ply]

This is another post which isn't completely ply focused, but I want to take a second to point out the overlap between people who are transmisic and people who exclude/invalidate mspec lesbians.

Last week, I made a post where I mentioned being a polysexual lesbian, and I made a few mspec lesbian pride flags. Yesterday, someone asked if I was polysexual or a lesbian.

On this blog, we have rules for interaction, as well as rules for mods to follow. At the very top, we have a rule against exclusion and invalidation towards good faith identities, and a rule against bigotry and dogwhistles. However, we will answer questions when they may have been asked in good faith.

So, I answered with this:

Both. I'm attracted to many genders, but not binary men, so I find that polysexual and lesbian both describe my orientation well. Other people may identify as a polysexual lesbian for other reasons.

After I answered, the mask came off, and they started being transmisogynistic and nonbinary-exclusionary, and weaponized the existence of bimisia against me. I deleted their comments and blocked them last night, so I can't copy what they said word for word, but I will repeat their key notes under the cut.

CW: bi erasure, exorsexism/nonbinary-erasure, transmisogyny, mentions of genitalia

"This is what people mean when they talk about bi erasure. You're erasing bi people."

This is a complete misunderstanding of what bi erasure even means. Bi erasure is when you ignore (the existence of) bi people, or outright deny their existence. These are some examples of bi erasure:

Erasing or ignoring bi history.

Saying that bi people need to just "pick a side."

Saying that bi people are secretly straight/secretly gay.

Saying that bi is just "a transitional orientation" or "a phase."

Redefining the broad definition of bisexuality without the consent of the bi community, especially with the intent of telling people that they "aren't really bisexual" or replacing the bi label.

Saying that "everyone is a little bit bisexual," especially with the intent of erasing bisexuality as a distinct category. This can also be a form of erasure against people who aren't bisexual.

Note that "identifying as something other than bi" is not a form of bi erasure, even if you might "technically" fit the definition... Because that is a matter of personal identity.

But do you know what is a form of bi erasure? Erasing bi history. Mspec lesbians (particularly bi lesbians), have existed for decades. It is not a new identity, and bi women and enbies have a right to identify their attractions to women as lesbian attraction if they wish to. The exclusion of bi people from the lesbian label began as a form of bi erasure. It happened because of separatism and political lesbianism, and an idea that attraction to men "tainted" people, or was a "betrayal" to feminism. It happened because of bimisia.

The word "lesbian" has served as an umbrella term synonymous to "sapphic" for over half a century. You want sources? Here you go.

Miller, Trish. Lavender Woman, Vol. 2, No. 5. Lavender Woman Magazine, 1973. "What is a lesbian? To me, a lesbian is a woman-oriented woman; bisexuals can be lesbians. A lesbian does not have to be exclusively woman-oriented, she does not have to prove herself in bed, she does not have to hate men, she does not have to be sexually active at all times, she does not have to be a radical feminist." Ferguson, Ann. Patriarchy, Sexual Identity, and the Sexual Revolution. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 1981. "Lesbian is a woman who has sexual and erotic-emotional ties primarily with women or who sees herself as centrally involved with a community of self-identified lesbians whose sexual and erotic-emotional ties are primarily with women; and who is herself a self-identified lesbian."....."[My definition] defines both bisexual and celibate women as lesbians as long as they identify themselves as such and have their primary emotional identification with a community of self-defined lesbians." Kafele, Dajenya Shoshanna (1991). Bisexual Lesbian. Archived from the original on July 25, 2022. Queen, Carol A.. Strangers at Home: Bisexuals in the queer movement,. 1992. "A great many bisexual women, particularly those who are feminist and lesbian-identified, have felt both personally and politically rejected and judged by the separatist sisters." Kafele, Dajenya Shoshanna. "Which Part of Me Deserves to Be Free?". Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, & Visions. New York : Haworth Press, 1995. ISBN 9781560249504. "Personally, I am unable to separate out the various ways that I am oppressed (as a woman, as an African American, as a bisexual lesbian, as an impoverished single mother) and say that one oppression is worse than the other, or that I desire one form of liberation more than another." Wyeth, Amy. "Don't Assume Anything". Bi Women: The Newsletter of the Boston Bisexual Women's Network. Vol. 5, No. 2, 1995. "Unfortunately, many of my experiences as a lesbian-identified bisexual woman have said to me that having an appearance or demeanor that diverges from the expected means I will not be accepted as truly belonging in the lesbian community. Despite my attendance at gay pride parades, dollars spent at gay resorts and in support of gay causes, and numerous attempts to participate in gay and/or lesbian groups and volunteer events, I have often felt unaccepted by this community." Holleb, Morgan Lev Edward. The A-Z of Gender and Sexuality. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2019. ISBN 9781784506636. "LESBIAN — A woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to women. Lesbian can mean women who are attracted exclusively to other women, but it is also a broader term for women and femmes who are attracted to other women and femmes. This includes bisexual and pansexual women, asexual women who are romantically attracted to women, and non-binary people who identify with womanhood." Lesbian. The Trans Language Primer. Archived from the original on October 22, 2021.

Does this mean bi people have to identify as lesbians, or "aren't actually" bi, or can't just identify as bi? Obviously not, and I never said that was the case. That would be bi erasure, because that's policing bi people's identities and forcing them under labels that they may not want to be included under. But in the circumstance that a bi person also identifies as a lesbian, they have every right to do so. Bi-inclusive definitions of lesbianism have existed for at least 51 years, and still exist today.

"Attraction to men, binary or not, means you're not a lesbian."

See above for why the lesbian identity is not always dependent on a lack of attraction to men, binary or not. But lets focus on the nonbinary part specifically:

Nonbinary people can people included in lesbianism and lesbian attraction if they want to be. Yes, that includes all nonbinary genders. Even if attraction to men inherently disqualified a person from lesbianism, nonbinary genders cannot be confined to binary gender rules (even when they're aligned with binary genders) because they're nonbinary. Treating nonbinary genders like they're "functionally the same as binary genders" is a form of nonbinary erasure, regardless of gender alignment.

Whether nonbinary people are included in lesbianism or not is entirely up to each individual nonbinary person regarding their own identity. It is not dependent on the gender label used; it is dependent on how each nonbinary person feels about it on an individual level.

The implication that manhood inherently dominates and erases the rest of a person's identity is also troubling. If you accept that nonbinary people can be included in lesbianism, you must also accept that nonbinary men can be included in lesbianism. A nonbinary man is still nonbinary; their manhood doesn't erase that.

As a pangender lesbian, I've had to deal with the experience of people not only erasing my enbyhood, but my womanhood as well, because they think my manhood is the only relevant aspect of my identity. This is misogynistic and exorsexist, plain and simple, and people use this misogyny/exorsexism to tell me that I'm not a lesbian.

With all of that said, nonbinary people (of any gender alignment) are not always comfortable being included in lesbianism. This is why I describe myself as both polysexual and a lesbian; the polysexual part of my orientation acknowledges that my attraction to enbies can't always be described with my more binary-aligned labels.

And funnily enough, while some people tell me that I can't be a lesbian and can only be polysexual, other people tell me the opposite. So clearly, there isn't a consensus on which label is "correct" for me.

"If it has a dick, you can't be a lesbian."

This is just blatant mask off transmisogyny, and it's the main reason I blocked them. Do I even need to explain what's wrong with this? Even under a strictly monosexual definition of lesbianism, this statement is just false. Being attracted to people with penises does not equal being attracted to men. If a lesbian is exclusively attracted to women, including women with penises, that lesbian is attracted to only one gender and is not bisexual or mspec.

Any gender can have a dick. Lesbians can have dicks. Women can have dicks. The presence of a penis or lack thereof is not a defining trait of lesbianism, nor monosexuality. And for fuck's sake, maybe don't call your hypothetical trans woman "it"??

"Mspec lesbian" does not mean "lesbian who is attracted to vaginas and penises," and if you think that's what it means, you need to educate yourself. Yes, this includes any people who might identify as an mspec lesbian because of that transmisogynistic definition.

This blog is an inclusive space. If you come in here to spew bigoted or exclusionary nonsense, expect to be blocked. Think before you speak, and please read our rules.

[fandomshatepeopleofcolor]

Hi, I would like to talk to you about your comment under my friend Summer's post. As a lesbian, I have to say that saying that "bisexuals exist" under a post about a character being seen as a lesbian/lesbian-coded is pretty lesbophobic of you even if you didn't mean it, as many times posts about characters being seen as lesbians whether canon or not get derailed with people saying that the character "could/should" be bi(and thus making it so that the character is into men). Also Summer is a bisexual Black woman so them getting rid of Percabeth isn't misogynoir and it's certainly not bisexual erasure because, like they said, Percabeth is incredibly cisheteronormative and REEKS of comphet. Also a lot of lesbians see themselves in Annabeth and agree that she is lesbian-coded and that her relationship with Percy can be seen as comphet, including myself. Respectfully, this was not your place to go "bisexuals exist". Yes, we know that bisexuals exist, as op is a literal bisexual himself, but that doesn't excuse derailing a post about a character being perceived as a lesbian with "okay but they could be bisexual ackshully". Yes, bisexual erasure exists, but a character being seen as a lesbian when they are portrayed straight in canon ain't it. Women and lesbians in particular face a lot of pressure to be into men and to center men in their lives, so you saying "bisexuals exist" is adding to that societal pressure even if you think it's not, even if you think you're doing something good. If you see Annabeth as bi, then make your own post about it. Don't come onto a post about her not liking men to remind us/op that she could like men. We already know that women are expected to like men. I'd appreciate it if you apologized and deleted your reblog. Thank you.

Hi thisismisogynoir, I appreciate that you and your friend are of a certain opinion here wrt Annabeth being lesbiancoded.  But I’ve been in fandom for over 20 years, and I’d like to share my perspective. 

There are two fundamental topics going on here, race and queerness.

First, race: there’s this urge when there’s a racebent female character (and Annabeth is now Black) that fandom wants to sever her ties to the main character and usually its romantic.  

For example, take cw’s the flash. In the comics, Iris was white but for the tv show the CW hired Candice Patton, a black woman. Lots of people were angry about this and  were insisting that the white redhead in the cast (caitlin snow played by danielle panabaker)  should be Barry’s love interest instead. They were very persistent and made fandom unbearable.  Another example,the original Roswell series had Maria DeLuca played by a white actress, but for the reboot, Roswell New Mexico, they racebent Maria Deluca and cast the afrolatina Heather Hemmens in the role.  Now that Heather was Maria, everyone wanted Maria to not be in love with Michael anymore  and the showrunners just so happened to give Michael another love interest, the whitepassing Alex. Michael was still one of the main characters and Maria, who was now a Black girl, was separated from him in favor of this whitepassing male character Alex.  There’s even an older, much more blatant example of this in the form of Nyota Uhura (yes I know she’s never been racebent but bear with me).  Back in the original series Uhura had chemistry mainly with two people, Chapel and Spock.  (  Now granted I loved original series Chahura (not really sure on the actual spelling of their shipping portmanteau sorry) shipping but now in the reboot Kelvin timeline there’s this urge to declare Uhura a lesbian again, when she has a canon romance with Spock.  There are plenty more examples of this pattern.

I realize you’re both Black and I’m not, and I really don’t want it to seem like I’m dismissing your lived experiences.  With all due respect though, it kinda doesn’t matter that you’re Black in this case?  It doesn’t really matter that you don’t intend misogynoir but rather what the impact is of this particular post. If the intent is to make Annabeth a more fleshed out character, that I can wholeheartedly agree with.  However you’re opening up a dangerous avenue where white fans can point to you and say "well here’s two Black women who agree with me that Annabeth should be kept far away from Percy!!!”  except they won’t word it that way they’ll use your words and say “here’s two Black fans that want Leahbeth to be a lesbian because she’s lesbian coded!!”

Speaking of, let’s talk about queerness.I get that there’s lots of different readings for canon but I’m kinda worried that you are mistaking your fanon reading of Annabeth as a lesbian and trying to project it on Leah/Annabeth, Imagining additional experiences unaddressed in canon is fair game, but it’s honestly hurtful to undercut, take away, and reduce a character’s experiences. IMHO you can advocate for a more fleshed out characterization of Annabeth without excluding the fans like me who really appreciated Percabeth. And yes I am biromantic asexual so I would love to see another bisexual character be the main focus of a new, mainstream show.

mod ali

[ao3feed-narlie]

Just a Chance

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/P0QgZ4a by katya818 Nick and Charlie never meet in grammar school, their lives having taken different directions prior to that. Nick ends up playing American Football (long story) at a University in the Midwest United States (another long story). Nick and his buddies go out for a night of fun and by pure chance he meets Charlie, who also attends the same university (again...long story). Discovering they are from the same hometown and the feeling of fate connecting their lives, they share an amazing few minutes together before both are pulled away, possibly never seeing each other again. But, when another twist of fate brings our two men together again, will either one have the courage to embrace the second chance destiny has thrown thier way? This is a medium angst, somewhat slow-burn AU, introducing some brand new characters. There is definitely a lot of fluff, some pretty spicy "E" rated scenes, and definitely angst, not only in relationships, but in thier paths to self-discovery and outside world reactions. The core story has 30 Chapters with at least one epilogue, possibly more. New chapters daily or every other day. CW: Homophobia, Bi-Erasure, Descriptions of Mental Health struggles. See each chapter for specifics. Words: 3490, Chapters: 1/30, Language: English Series: Part 1 of Railmarket U Fandoms: Heartstopper (TV), Heartstopper (Webcomic) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M Characters: Nicholas "Nick" Nelson, Charles "Charlie" Spring (Heartstopper), Elle Argent, Tao Xu, Isaac Henderson (Heartstopper), Darcy Olsson, Tara Jones, Victoria "Tori" Spring, Michael Holden (Solitaire), Oliver "Olly" Spring, Sarah Nelson, Jane Spring, Julio Spring, Imogen Heaney Relationships: Nicholas "Nick" Nelson/Charles "Charlie" Spring, Nicholas "Nick" Nelson & Charles "Charlie" Spring, Elle Argent/Tao Xu, Tara Jones/Darcy Olsson, Michael Holden/Victoria "Tori" Spring Additional Tags: American Football, Rugby, Marching Band, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Alternate Universe - College/University, famous singer, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, new characters - Freeform read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/P0QgZ4a